Margarete Petersen Study Six of Swords - reversal of polarities, exchange of thoughts

Translation:

Bring various ways of thinking to a point -- Interconnectedness. Reverse the polarity of unproductive and demoralizing thoughts. You are ready to learn from other people and to assimilate new information. Exchange of thoughts.

Interconnectedness means recognizing dependencies. Recognize the self as part of a system that is woven together. Bring together the many layers of your mental goal, weave them together with new ways of thinking. Cultivate a harmonious relationship between feeling and thinking.

I think MP manages in this card to link together the Crowley acception of "Science" with the RWS acception of "travel to distant shores" (reversal of polarities). Science as finding "new ways of thinking" complements the idea of "moving away" from old (demoralizing) ways of thinking -- to leave the old for the new. Science is a weaving together of various perspectives from many points -- integrated knowlege coming from several shores at once ...

I see a dream catcher blocking us from the distorting forces of the moon. There is fog all around. The feathers lay on top of the dream catcher all pointing to the center. The feathers all look ruffled, yet they all manage to come to a point at the center of the moon and the dream catcher.

I see the fog and the moon in the card representing distractions or distortions of sorts. Dreams wether good or bad are that way. When we dream it doesn't make sense to the awake mind, but there is a point that the dream wants to make and however distorted the events are you usually can get the point. The dream catcher is used to 'filter' out our dreams. It is supposed to take out all the evil and just let the good things pass through.

I would interpret this card as meaning a message will come in a dream. Or even though things are unclear and the facts are not easy to hone in on, the truth will be found.

I also just thought of a spider web. It does look like a spider web as well.

yes indeed. I really am enjoying this deck very much. I took it to the coffee shop last night and my boyfriend and I were looking through it and discussing the different images. A few other people joined in with the discussions. There were some very interesting interpretations to say the least.

I am so glad you persisted with this study Paula! I am finding your posts very helpful.

I've had this deck for a few months and not really explored it...quite lovely.

First thing I noticed also, as did Mimers, was what appear to be a spider web...at least in your scan.

As I look at my card, the web could also appear to be the woven parts of a basket....with the six feathers' points meeting slightly off center in the interior? of the weave. I think of the creation of a basket as a task that requires focus and attention, an activity that lends itself to mindfulness and meditation and hence to integration within.

I like Mimer's reference to Moon and Fog as well...

The card of "air" for me has elements of how each part is important to make up the whole...and the fog representing that, perhaps, the whole cannot be broken into parts once there is harmony and integration.

Also, I had a fleeting thought of the center of the Whee of Fortune...and about how we need to stay centered and whole in the midst of chaos...i.e. to find balance between our emotional selves and our intellectual selves.

The overall "blueness" reminds me of the throat chakra softened...communication? The few hints of lavendar/violet moves me toward the "seeing" of higher guidance when all works together in harmony, whether within ourselves or whether ourself within a community environment.

I just reread the opening post with your translation, fm...I guess what I said is somewhat similar...

I see a dream catcher blocking us from the distorting forces of the moon. There is fog all around. The feathers lay on top of the dream catcher all pointing to the center. The feathers all look ruffled, yet they all manage to come to a point at the center of the moon and the dream catcher.

A Dream Catcher! Fascinating. What is a dream catcher? Is this what it really looks like?

I agree that there is what we see can look like a spun web - with the spiraling circles intersected with radians. It also resembles somewhat the waves of radio diffusion , or even water. Or -- the structure of a feather. Remember discovering as a child, how a feather, like a leaf -- is made up of little tiny feather strands all tight together, and that each one of those strands is also made of up strands... everything interconnected, and getting smaller and smaller -- with each smaller part an imitation of the whole larger part.

A Dream Catcher! Fascinating. What is a dream catcher? Is this what it really looks like?

A dream catcher looks a lot like a web. It is made of sticks that are made into something like a wreath. String is woven in the center like a spider web. Things that are special to the person are woven into it. For instance my daughter was gifted one and it has shells and turquoise woven in it. There are usually feathers hanging on the bottom. There is also four sacks tied to represent North, South East and West and they contain sage. They are Red, black, yellow and white. Evil spirits are said not to like the smell of sage.

I did not know how the feathers were made up of all those strands. That is so facinating. It is these amazing details to life that assure me there is a creator. The Universe is so profound down to the most minute details!

Hi, nice to "see" you again and thank you for restarting the Margarete study group. This remains my favorite deck, partly because of the stunning depth of the artwork but equally because of her amazing insights. I never would have found them if Firemaiden hadn't done all that translation.

One reason I particularly like Margarete's take on the Six of Swords is that she incorporates the ideas of cooperation from the numerological system. The six, Tifaret or Beauty, is supposed to indicate cooperation and a state of heavenly harmony. Paula Gibby in her Blue Rose tarot also explored this connection. In contrast to the RWS Six of Swords, Gibby looks to the Thoth Science interpretation and combines it with the Kabbalah numerology. She depicts a team of surgeons working to improve (or save) the life of their patient. They succeed by being cooperative, by setting aside their egos in order to contribute to a team effort. The six is not the end of a journey, the ego is not happy to stay subordinated to the team forever, and when it returns to thoughts of its own dominance or non-connectedness, the six ends and we move to the seven. But that moment, that precious and delicate moment when all six feather tips touch each other at once, allows marvelous things to happen.

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